American Scouts Tour England

For 18 days, July 25 to Aug. 11, 10 scouts from Explorer Post No. 357 of Kissimmee left the sunny sands of home to visit the chilly climes of England. We spent a week in Kibblestone with some 1,500 other scouts in central England.

There we enjoyed the high adventure activities which made scoutlng famous. Several of our number participated in caving, hiking, rapelling (U.K. speak "abseilling") and, kayaking (U.K. "canoeing"). The cow-patty, dodging trek to the famous Wedgwood pottery gave new meaning to the phrase "cross country".

While there, some of us got to try our hands at painting pottery and seeing first-hand all the steps of the famous Wedgwood style. Kibblestone also.featured the popular scout trading. Our group gave or traded away thousands of stickers, patches and scouting memorabilia. We had heard that upwards of 3,000 scouts would be there over the two week period, so Tim Trace got Disney to donate stickers to give away. No one left empty handed. We also had Magic posters, council ,strips, Florida state pins and state park pins. But the biggest hit was our contingent patches. No matter how limited their English every scout in camp knew four words: "trade", "swap", "change", or-if they didn't have anything, "present".

Some of our scouts went to elaborate measures in their trades. Jessica Hutchison traded one of our popular patches to the warden on the condition that he would have to wear green nail polish on his hand for three days. He agreed on the condition that he wore it on his right hand, and his "left-hand man" was done and given a patch, too. He explained the startling manicure and announced the deal at a flag ceremony. He mentioned that it would be the only patch he would really earn at camp. Some people resorted to a form of "Pictionary", drawing rough sketches on hands, arms and legs to get their points across.

Kathy Dickson also brought along a few fun tricks. She had a "pet Gator Rat" (only photo of it in cage is at this Florida appearance!) whlch she showed to anyone who would let her. The gator rat, so one story went, was a pet we brought from Florida. They were vicious from years of fighting gators to steal their eggs. Still, they could be tamed. So Kathy tamed one and sent it a week or two ahead of time to clear it through customs. Then she would coax the listeners to scratch on the cage. When they did, she turned a hook that sent a piece of fur flying at the victim. Each scout had a different version of it's history as we took turns reeling in new victims... After each victim regained their complacency, we then showed them some rattlesnake eggs (the gator rat's meals). When someone was trusting enough to open the envelopes in which they were held, they heard a rattling sound that scared them out of their wits. Kathy then gave them some "eggs" to take home. Interestingly enough, one victim decided to use his OWN pen to exchange addresses. He was afraid Kathy's might 'do something unpenlike'...

Our unit also did the tourist stuff, visiting the birthplace of .Shakespeare in Stratford-upon- Avon, along with Warwick Castle and Eyam, the only town in England struck by the bubonlc plague. Half of our group went to Alton Towers, a British theme park After camp, we went into home hopitality. This let us experience the lives of ordinary, British families. They also took us around to see the local stuff' –.manors, farms, pubs and cathedrals. Many of us also went to the Birmingham Scout shop, where we,spent over two hundred pounds. Many of the buildings were older than the United States. To thank our hosts for sharing their homes with us, we gave the host familfies gifts ranging from friendship quilt and dolls to a watercolor and a hand-rnade hiking staff.

Finally we went to London. There was a train wreck between Staffordshire and l.ondon that delayed us getting there, so our plans were skewed, but we checked our gear into the Baden- Powell House and went to the scout shop. The four ladies who are also registered Girl Scouts stopped in a couple of doors down at the guide headquarters. A few of us had to change more traveler's checks, and went gratefully to bed after the difficulties of getting south overcame our excitement at being in London. In the morning, we split up. Kathy Dickson, Dave Cadorette and I went to Gillwell Park, the piece of land given to scouting's founder in order to raise hirn to the peerage, which became a scout camp. The rest went around London to see the Tower Bridge, Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, Westminster Abbey and the House of Parliement. Then Brenda Hutchison and her daughter went to fulfill their dream of seeing "Cats" while Danielle and Merana Cadorette, Tim Trace, Adria Besette and Joe Zuba went to Covent Girden where, they met with us again. There we met with the Wickes' who had been instrumental in arranging transportation from London to Camp Kibblestone. We had tea with them, returned to the Baden-Powell House and rested for our one mile baackpack to Victoria Station and the nine hour flight home.